Gov. Mike Parson's office on Wednesday announced winners of the inaugural Show Me Challenge.
The Show Me Challenge asked state personnel in the executive branch to pitch their ideas to provide solutions to hurdles they and residents face, cut out the bureaucracy and save money. Within weeks, about 90 teams had each developed a proposal they thought would benefit the state and its residents.
The winning team was AgStop, which proposed a web portal and accompanying smartphone application - focused on agricultural needs - that would allow farm owners to page through a short list of prompts to submit regulatory forms, identify new marketing opportunities and discover financial options available to them through the Missouri Department of Agriculture. All those options would be available on one site or their apps.
AgStop team members included Department of Agriculture employees Maddy Berwanger, Sami Jo Freeman, Sarah Goellner, Jenny Janssen, Kelly Lane, Janice LIbbert, Kristina Stafford and Reagan Wempe, along with Eric Pahl from the Office of Administration and Justin Smith, of the Attorney General's Office.
The team Keep on Truckin' from the Department of Revenue won second place with a focus on reducing Commercial Driver License transaction errors that occur in the license offices.
The Mobile Electronic Assessments team from the Department of Health and Senior Services took third place, pitching a simple technology solution to an outdated government process and implementation of mobile assessments intended to yield more efficient operations, costs savings and improved customer service for more than 38,000 Missourians.
A selection committee reviewed the pitches and narrowed the pool to 11 finalists. In a process similar to the television show "Shark Tank," those finalists were given five minutes each to pitch their ideas to a five-member senior leadership selection committee, who were to compare notes and make a selection of the winning pitch. The winners will possibly be announced today.
Each member of the winning team is to receive $500, senior support and mentorship to translate their proposals into results.
Another challenge will begin in a few weeks, with finalists to be judged in June, according to a news release from the governor's office. The Show Me Challenge will take place twice annually.